Commercials and Mindsets

July 31st, 2012 at 07:41 am

It is me, or are there more commercials on television?

Furthermore, do these folks think we are stupid?

DH says I observe too much. For example, some of the processed foods show these fancy kitchens with beautiful cabinets, granite countertops, and perfect appliances and nothing out of place -- the gourmet kitchen to heat up a junk food snack in the microwave. Even the dog and cat food commercials show pretty elaborate kitchens! Really? Do they think most of America has the fancy kitchen of these commercials or is it a subliminal message that if you buy this stuff, you'll be like these folks?

I'm not sure the draw is for these car commercials where they drive in some of these settings like big cities and storm out and go rapidly down these streets. In most big cities, it is usually bumper to bumper during the day. I guess the car companies think we will think we can avoid the traffic and have a blast driving their car. I'll just putter along in mine and hopefully save some gas!

I wonder how many homes look as fancy as the ones in the commercial? I guess they feel it is everyone's dream to have these elaborate, fancy homes with up to date everything. Do we all buy into this? Is it a way to make folks unsatisfied with what they have and buy bigger and better?

Right now on Facebook it seems most of my friends keep putting these photos asking if we remember this and that such as a potato masher or speakers from a drive in theatre. I do have a potato masher and often use it, so I guess I not only remember it...I'm not up to date with whatever the kitchen market industry thinks I should be using. It was my grandmother's and it works just fine.

I remember Charlie Brown and Linus talking about commercialism as well as it being a sticking point in "Miracle on 34th Street." Maybe I'm becoming sick of it as well. Have we become too infected with commercialism?

Oh, the fancy kitchens! Those are a major pet peeve of mine. I know plenty of people with big, fancy kitchen with elaborate, top-of-the-line appliances. The peeve?! They don't cook! At all! Why do they own big mixers and food processors? The kitchens look straight out of the Williams Sonoma catalog! It's like they are trying to create the illusion of knowing how to cook, but they don't really want to learn.

I hear ya! We had to get another potato masher because my son took mine when he went off to college. We do not consider such a tool something merely to be nostalgic about. Aesthetically my kitchen is a little primitive, and I don't mean charmingly so. But I cook real food.

I have a friend whose last cooking facilities consisted of a hole in the dirt kitchen floor (to hold the fire) and, outside, an adobe-like domed oven for cooking flat bread. She had running water --sometimes. She is an excellent cook.

Potato masher a nostalgic item -- really? I guess maybe potato ricers are becoming more standard; hopefully it's not a nostalgic item because people just buy instant mashed potatoes now! We have a masher, a ricer and an electric handheld mixer (what my mom used for Thanksgiving & Xmas mashed potatoes); I use whichever one suits my purpose at the time.

Don't get me started about tv of any form. If you pay attention to commercials, you set yourself up for a world of financial hurt - not only are you "obeying" the fancy setup, that fancy setup changes every year or two, so you if you don't keep up you risk your furnishings being "dated". Oooh, the pain. (sarcasm).

One of my favorite magazines is Saveur. I call it the Nat'l Geographic of Food. The articles themselves show great food from out of the way, but real places, while the ad space - front and back - show the swank-o kitchen. Total entertaining disconnect.

Love my potato masher and all my equipment that needs no electricity. Many chefs will give you a list of the equipment you genuinely need - its positively shocking how short it can be.

My kitchen is very nice, I think, but it doesn't look like those in commercials. If you put it plain and simple, your kitchen is a place to store and prepare food. You need a stove, refrigerator, cabinets, and prep space. I ignore commercials, though. I don't really need to be reminded that I am not keeping up with the Joneses, and I don't personally know anyone who is keeping up with them.

@ceejay. I have a potato masher, but I don't use it for potatoes. I use to mash up eggs for eggs for egg salad, black beans for stew, and other stuff like that. I have had to use it more since I broke the handle off the blender, which made a hole in the side of the blender.

A few years ago a gal I worked with got married. She registered for all these fancy things. She had more casserole dishes and kitchen gadgets, all brand spanking new. She invited us over to see their house and there, in her cabinets, sat many of her wedding gifts in the cabinets still in the boxes months after her wedding. They ate out all the time.

My masher mashes bananas just the right consistency for banana bread and muffins
Agree with the tv sentiment, and would add that many magazines do the same - we are lacking, there's more to strive for.... Hey, what about being content with what you have?? I guess I'll be happy my own way!

Commercials sell you a dream life of idealized values fulfilled--absolutely they try to subconsciously tie their product to an idealized lifestyle. It all just goes back to Pavlov's Dogs and classical conditioning (in fact, one of the biggest developers of Madison Avenue and the advertising industry was the famous (and infamous) psychologist John B. Watson, who one learns about in every intro psych class.

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